Children from Gloucestershire have helped design their new £8.92 million school as part of a community initiative.

Youngsters met with contractors Leadbitter as well as planners and architects to discuss how they could incorporate their ideas into the design. The project is funded by Gloucestershire County Council. 

Now Leadbitter, who started work on site in March (2008), have incorporated some of the children’s ideas into the final project.

Under the scheme a new two-storey hall, hydrotherapy pool and administration block will be built as part of phase one. The second phase will see the existing school being demolished to make way for phase three – the new teaching block. 

The Friends of Bettridge raised an additional £250,000 to replace the existing hydrotherapy pool. Wessex-based architects Hunter and Partners designed the new look school building.

Rob Bradley, Leadbitter regional director, said: "Bettridge School is an example of how stakeholders can engage with the local community to deliver a building which children, parents and staff all feel an integral part of." 

"There’s always a degree of risk when you design a new building like this by committee but the benefits can be impressive. The construction side of the project is complicated because we will be working on a live site but we are confident that the work will be completed within the client’s brief."  

Bettridge School, which has around 100 pupils, is a specialist SEN school. Pupils have severe and complex learning difficulties.   

Headteacher Mary Saunders added: "Several events have been held giving the pupils the opportunity to say what they want in their new school and their ideas have been given a very high priority. They are very excited about the idea of watching their school grow over the next few months."